Tool supporting adapter having means to coact with a transport means for orientationof the adapter with the spindle head



June 9, 1964 F. R. SWANSON ETAL 3,135,980

TOOL SUPPORTING ADAPTER HAVING MEANS TO COACT WITH A TRANSPORT MEANS FORORIENTATION OF THE ADAPTER WITH THE SPINDLE HEAD Original Filed Nov. 25,1960 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 1964 v F. R. SWANSON ETAL 3,135,930

TOOL. SUPPORTING ADAPTER HAVING MEANS TO COACT WITH A TRANSPORT MEANSFOR ORIENTATION OF THE -ADAPTER WITH THE SPINDLE HEAD v Original FiledNov. 25, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Irzi/ via r25 fled filwans w 1 n J ll/14$VZ l/A A a y l 6 8 I A W 5 a 3 z 5 United States. Patent M TOOLSUPPORTING ADAPTER HAVING MEANS T0 COACT WITH A TRANSPORT MEANS FORORIENTATION OF THE ADAPTER WITH THE SPINDLE HEAD Fred R. Swanson,Rockford, and Carl F. Erikson, Belvidere, Ill., assignors to SundstrandCorporation, a corporation of Illinois Continuation of application Ser.No. 71,594, Nov. 25,

1960. This application Aug. 16, 1963, Ser. No. 306,979 1 Claim. (Cl.10-129) This invention relates to tool supporting, handling and drivingadapters in which certain parts associated with the adapter requireaccurate positional control during use of the adapter.

An object of this invention is toprovide a new and improved tooladapter.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved tooladapter having means associated therewith which are held againstmovement during operation of the tool.

A further object of the invention isto provide a tool adapter incombination with a machine tool having a head with a spindle with theadapter having a body insertable in the spindle bore and having partsrequiring a predetermined fixed relation to the spindle with coactingmeans on the head and parts supported by the adapter body for alignmenttherebetween and holding of said parts stationary relative to the head.

A further object of the invention is toprovide a combination as definedin the preceding paragraph in which adapter handling means are providedfor insertion and removal of an adapter from the spindle and said partsand adapter handling means have coacting abutments whereby said partsare held in oriented relation when the adapter is associated with saidhandling means.

A further object of the invention is to provide an adapter and leadscrew tapper combination comprising an adapter body, a frame mounted onsaid body for movement relative thereto and adapted for being heldagainst movement, a nut and coacting lead screw with one afiixed to saidframe and the other rotatable with the adapter body, and means yieldablyurging a tool to follow the relative advance of the lead screw and nutwhereby rotation of the adapter body causes yieldable advance of a tool.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdetailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is an end elevational view of the adapter with the adapterhandling means shown in association therewith and broken away;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the adapter turned 90 from the position shownin FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section of the adapter shown in FIGS. 1 and 2shown in association with the machine tool head and spindle in sectionand with the adapter handling means shown in broken lines;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the adapter taken of the endopposite from that shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section taken generally along the line 5-5 inFIG. 1 of the adapter and showing parts of the adapter in associationwith the machine tool head;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary section taken generally along the line 6-6 inFIG. 3; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cam member shown in section in FIG.'3.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail an embodiment of the invention with the understanding that thepresent disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the3,135,980 Patented June 9, 1964 principles of the invention and is notintended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scopeof the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

This application is a continuation of application Serial No. 71,594,filed November 25, 1960, now abandoned.

As shown in the drawings, the adapter embodies a body 10 having a frame11 rotatably mounted on the body 10 for movement relative to each otherin operation and use of a tool 12 associated with the adapter. Theadapter body 10, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and in association with amachine tool head 15 and spindle 16 in FIG. 3, has a cylindrical section17, which is receivable in a collet 18 within the spindle 16. The extentof movement of the adapter body 10 into the spindle 16 is determined bythe abutment of a threaded member 20 adjustably mounted at an end of theadapter body engaging with an abutment 21 mounted within the bore of thespindle 16. Additionally, the spindle has a key 22 which engages in akeyway 23 of matching shape in the adapter to provide maximum drivingtorque for the adapter body 10.

The adapter embodying the invention herein is one in which a partthereof must have a predetermined relation to the head 15 and spindle 16during operation of the tool and one particular form of such an adapteris disclosed herein as a combination of adapter and lead screw tapper.In the lead screw tapper, the frame 11 is hollow and has an annular wall24 which is rotatably mounted on the adapter body 10 by means ofbearings 25.

The tool 12 is connected to a socket 26 at an end of a shaft 27 whichextends upwardly into a hollow chamber within the adapter body 10 andhas a nut 28 threaded on an end thereof.

The tool 12 is rotated by connection to and rotation with the tooladapter body 10 which derives its rotation from the spindle 16. Moreparticularly, the adapter body 10 has an end thereof remote from thedepth-determining member 20 and divided into three circumferentiallyspaced sections, 30, 31, and 32, as viewed in FIG.

6, between which are received rollers 33, 34, and 35 carried by a cammember 36 which is loosely mounted on the shaft 27. The cam member 36through cam engagement with a cam member 37, as more fully describedhereinafter, causes rotation of a lead screw 38 by means of a key 39fastened to the shaft 27 and received in a keyway 40 of the cam member37, as shown in FIG. 7, and a corresponding keyway 41 in the lead screw38. This rotation of the shaft 27 results in rotation of the tool 12 andadditionally the rotation of the lead screw causes advance of the tool12 by advance of the lead screw in a nut 42 suitably affixed to an endof the adapter frame wall 12.

It will be seen that the nut 42 must remain stationary for the tool 12to operate and this is accomplished by having a forked member 45 on theadapter frame 11 which, as shown in FIG. 3, engages a pin 46 on themachine tool head 15 to hold the adapter frame 11 stationary. Theengagement between the fork 45 and the pin 46 is obtained as the adapteris inserted into the spindle 16.

The lead screw tapper has a yieldable drive to limit the torque appliedto the tool and this embodies a spring 50 seated between the nut 28threaded on shaft 27 and a thrust ball retainer 51, to maintain the cammembers 36 and 37 in engagement with the cam member 36 being limited inits movement by abutment with a shoulder on the shaft 27. The cam member37 as shown in FIG. 7 has a pair of depressions with 45 cam surfaces 52and 53 for engagement by correspondingly shaped cam projections 54 onthe cam member 36. Additionally, the cam member 37 has surfaces 55 and56 sloping downwardly toward the cam depressions. With thisconstruction,

the cam member projections 54 can readily seat themselves in the camdepressions in cam member 37 after the cam members have been disengaged.In a tapping operation when the torque exceeds the limit imposed by thetension on the spring 50, the cam surfaces on the members 36 and 37 willrotate relative to each other since they disengage and compress thespring to allow the cam member 37 to stop rotating which stops rotationand advance of the tool 12.

In operation, with the adapter in position relative to the spindle,rotation of the tool adapter body 17 through cam members 36 and 37results in rotation of the tool 12 as well as the lead screw 38. Aftercompletion of the tapping operation, the rotation of the adapter body 17is reversed to retract the tool 12 and this operation continues until alug 60 on a plate 61 attached to the shaft 27 hits a nut 62 to stoprotation of the shaft 27 and additional rotation of the adapter bodycauses the cam members 36 and 37 to disengage.

In the event no drilled hole is present when the tool 12 strikes a wallof the object being machined, the lead screw 38 can continue to advanceby compressing a spring 65 disposed between the lead screw 38 and ashoulder on the shaft 27. This allows the cam members 36 and 37 to moveaway from each other to disengage the drive to the shaft 27 and leadscrew 38.

In order to facilitate automatic handling of the adapter, the adapterbody 17 has a peripheral handling groove 70, as shown in FIG. 3, tofacilitate grasping thereof by adapter handling means shown partially inFIGS. 1, 3 and 4 and embodying an arm 71 having a forked end with arms72 and 73 disposable in the groove 70, the adapter handling means beinggenerally of the type disclosed in the copending application of Fred R.Swanson and Carl F. Erikson, filed September 29, 1960, Serial No.59,236.

In order to insure engagement between the forked member 45 on theadapter frame 11 and the pin 46 on the machine tool head, the frame 11is maintained at all times in controlled orientation by having a plunger75 affixed to a stem 76 slidable in a bracket 77 and urged toward themember 71 by a spring 78. This plunger 75 has a pair of abutments 79 and79a which engage the ends of the forked arms 72 and 73 to hold theadapter frame 11 against rotation.

An added feature of the adapter is the supplying of a fluid, such as airor coolant, to a point adjacent the tool 12 with connectionsautomatically being made by association of the adapter with the machine.This is accomplished by having a shoulder 80 on the adapter frame 11which is provided with a pair of individually usable quickconnectcouplings 81 and 82 with a pipe 83 connected to one of these couplingsas shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and the coupling 82 shown in detail in FIG. 5.The head 17 has a fluid outlet 84, receiving a fluid through a passage85 having a check valve 86 urged to a closed position by a spring 87.The coupling embodies a sleeve 88 which is spring-urged toward the headby a spring 89 to engage and seal the head by an O-ring 90. At the sametime, a stem 91 is engaging the check valve 86 to open the outlet 84, sothat subsequent supplying of fluid through the line 85 will result inpassage thereof through the coupling to the pipe 83 for supply and useat a point adjacent the tool 12.

We claim:

In combination, a machine tool having a spindle head with a rotatablespindle having a bore, a tool transport mechanism for handling a toolfor positioning thereof relative to a spindle, an adapter and toolcombination in which an adapter body has a stem positionable in saidspindle bore and a part of the tool includes a frame movable relative tothe stem and having a position of proper alignment relative to saidstern, said adapter having a working position with the stem in thespindle, mating means on the spindle head and frame for holding theframe stationary relative to the stem, said mating means requiringalignment of the frame relative to the spindle head for mating thereofupon insertion of said stem into the spindle bore, coacting means on thetransport mechanism and adapter stem for transport of the adapter, andadditional coacting means on the transport mechanism and frame holdingthe frame in fixed position during transport of the tool and adapter tohave said mating means in alignment upon mounting of the adapter in thespindle.

OTHER REFERENCES American Machinist, pages 106-108, Sept. 14, 1944.

